Laura's Wedding Collateral

I know I mentioned my most recent wedding collateral job in my last post, but everything turned out so fantastic I wanted to feature them. 

Laura is a coworker of mine and was introduced to me because she needed help with her wedding invitations. After emailing with her a bit I found out she had a vision of really great, creative and hand-made invitations. I loved the feel she as going with for her wedding. She told me she would be having lots of lace and burlap and would be using vintage hankies to make a garland that would be hung along the aisle. We discussed two very different directions for her invitations. One would go with the hankie garland route, but the other one would be more about the lace. This is what she decided on – a 3 piece set of invitation, rsvp postcard, and a map/directions card. We loved the look of white ink on craft paper, so I decided I would have two different rubber stamps made, one for the white ink and another for the pink. It was a lot of work, but I loved every minute of it. We couldn't have asked for a better outcome!

When it came time to talk about her programs I found out Laura an equally exciting vision. We decided on a 5" x 5" booklet with 3 pages. Luckily Laura had a ton of left over hankies from her garland project and I was able to use those as the covers. We wanted to pull in the burlap, so I cut a scalloped edge about 2 inches wide. I decided to sew all the pieces together as the binding. Each program is unique because of the fabulous vintage hankies. Our goal with this project was to create something the wedding guests would hold on to instead of littering them around the ceremony site. From what Laura said, our goal was accomplished and the guests absolutely loved the programs. 

I am extremely happy with the outcome of this project. I am so thankful for the opportunity to create something so crafty and hand-made. I am looking forward to my next few projects which will allow me to continue working with Laura on her sister's wedding shower invitations AND will give me the opportunity to work with Laura's sister, Julia on her wedding collateral. 

I am also grateful to Laura's wedding photographer, Alyse French, for taking such great photos of these invitations. Visit her website and check out her blog to see the other incredible details from Laura's wedding. 

love,

jules

ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT 2011 ALYSE FRENCH PHOTOGRAPHY

why, hello there!

Well, it's been approximately forever since I've posted anything. As you may or may not know I've been back from Kenya for about 6 weeks. Things over the past 5 or 6 months have been crazy busy!

From July to September I was busy getting ready for Kenya. I also decided it would be a good idea to take on a super fun, super crafty wedding invitation job 3 weeks before we left while also planning 2 fundraisers for Kenya. I got the invitations finished in 2 weeks, leaving 1 week to pack before my trip. Needless to say I was stressed. During this time I was also in charge of updating our team blog - Jambo Kenya! If you haven't had a chance to read about our trip feel free to visit the team blog to get a recap of everything we did in Kenya. There is also a link in the sidebar for our photo album. You should check them out - the kids are so cute and we went on a safari!

Since being back from the trip, I've been to Lubbock once and plan on going again this coming weekend. My Red Raiders haven't been playing so well over the past few weeks, but I still love them and support them 100%.  A few friends are coming with me this time - ROADTRIP!! I also worked on the wedding programs that go with the invitations I finished before the trip.

Being back from Kenya has been hard. I fell in love with those kids while I was there and everything in me wants to be back there with them watching them grow up. I keep up with the daily happenings of Naomi's Village through facebook. I don't think there's one day I go without looking at pictures or watching videos of the children. I can't wait to go back and visit. Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later.

About a week and a half ago I started researching possible serving opportunities here in Dallas. I knew I wanted to serve African refugees, so I googled it. I found a link for a local church's African fellowship service and ESL program. This last thursday I visited the ESL class and helped Burmese people with their english. We helped prepare them for the job interview process. I realized how big of a disconnect these people live with on a daily basis.

I also signed up to take a training at Free City International. Free City is an organization that my church, The Village, partners with. I am most interested in the mentorship program. I want to serve African refugees by helping them understand this crazy American culture we live in, helping them with english and by basically just living life with them.

I'm not sure which organization I'll choose to serve with on a regular basis, but I'm very excited about these opportunities. Please pray that the Lord will guide me in this decision.

love,
jules

Just checking in

I know it's been forever since I've posted, but I've been super busy preparing for my Kenya trip! I've actually been doing a lot of designing for 2 fundraisers we have tomorrow. One is at Yogurtland. If you live in Dallas be sure to come eat some fro yo in honor (and to support) of the Kenya 2 team! The second fundraiser is a party/house show.

We'll be selling sweets there and I've decided to try and make these

Perfect Lemon Bars

Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

There's a good possibility these will also be available.

Pumpkin Cookies with Caramel Frosting

mmm Don't they all look amazing?!

I'll try to post pictures of everything after the fact, but until then you can drool over the recipes.

Oh, and don't forget to check out what I've been posting on Jambo Kenya!

love,

jules

Break the Heat!

As everyone knows, it's Hotter than Hades here in Texas this summer. Every time I walk outside I feel like I'm walking straight into an oven. My main remedy is to simply stay inside as much as possible. And, of course, drink ice cold diet coke! Even my pool is to hot to swim in. It feels more like a bath tub than a swimming pool.

I came across an article via A Cup of Jo this morning listing 10 Amazing Public Pools. As I browse the photos I'm instantly in another place. One where it's not one hundred and fifty million degrees outside.

Wouldn't it be lovely to spend your summer frequenting one of these gorgeous pools?! My only chance at this dream is taking a drive down to Austin to play at Barton Springs, a 1,000 ft. long, natural spring fed pool where water temperatures rise from 68 to 78 degrees in the summer. 

Now, I'd say THAT'S a way to break the heat! Last-minute road-trip anyone?

love,
jules

Jambo!

It's official, the Kenya 2 Team blog is up and running! I'm going to be in charge of maintaing it and I'm very excited to have that job :-)

The official name is Jambo Kenya!

I would absolutely LOVE for you to follow along with our journey. Don't worry, I'll still be updating love, jules.

The reason we named it "jambo kenya" is because "jambo" in swahili, the main language in Kenya, means "hello".

So, hey, come on over and say Jambo!

love,
jules

Oh, Thank Heaven!

Today, 7-11, was 7-Eleven's birthday. In order to celebrate every year they give away free slurpees. Wait, did you just say FREE SLURPEE?! Indeed I did :)

Rosemary and I decided to take our afternoon break to partake in the greatness of a free Slurpee. I got Cherry. Oh, and of course, I got a Big Gulp of Diet Coke too!

Thanks 7-Eleven for the free Slurpee! Happy Birthday!

love,

jules

Life List

Have you ever head of anyone doing a list of "25 things before I turn 25" or "30 before turning 30"? I've heard of other people doing this type of thing with a deadline of a few months. Well, I decided on June 1st that I wanted to make one of these lists, but I'm giving myself a good amount of time in order to make bigger goals. I started talking about it with some friends and got a few people interested in doing the same type of thing. I decided to make mine 30 things before I turn 30. That gives me 5 and a half years to finish my 30 goals. Some are small and some are large. It took me a whole month to come up with everything, but it is finally finished! Here goes nothin!

1. learn photography in manual mode on a digital SLR camera
2. start a shop for invitations, cards, stationery and crafts - probably an ETSY shop.
3. take a culinary class or two
4. travel
5. create an actual website
6. take a glass blowing class
7. learn to letterpress
8. grow and establish my own veggie garden
9. shop at a farmer's market
10. own a library card... and use it!
11. ride a bike to work
12. read the whole bible
13. read 75 books
14. make my own cookbook
15. completely brand myself and love, jules stationery
16. write letters to those I love
17. finish a half marathon (if my knees can take it)
18. learn to sew well
19. make 3 articles of clothing
20. go speed dating with my girl friends, just for fun
21. learn to love wine
22. ride a train
23. have a spa night with the girls
24. catch fireflies
25. make homemade ice cream
26. make smores w/ Reese's over a campfire
27. go to museums
28. go to the beach
29. take a dancing class - swing or salsa or something fun like that
30. and finally one's a secret. I'll tell you once it's complete :)

My idea is to make a list every 5 years of shorter term goals. I also want to have a "long list" of things that will take me longer than 5 years to complete. So far the only one that's on the long list is to set foot in all 50 states.

Let Phase One of the Life List begin!

love,
jules

News!!

For the last 7 months I have been praying about something very specific. In December I began praying about participating in a mission trip to Kenya through my church, The Village. I had to fill out an application, a very daunting one at that - 12 pages long, and interview/meet with the team leader before finding out if I would officially be going on the trip. I kept joking about "making the team" but actually that's kind of how it felt.

I found out at the beginning of June that I was officially going to Kenya! It was such a wonderful thing to experience the Lord's faithfulness. We had our first team meeting about a week after I found out I was officially on the team. We don't know a lot about the details of the trip yet, but we do know we'll be going in September for 2 weeks. The tentative dates as of right now are Sept 12-24th. We won't have exact dates until we buy our plane tickets which should be soon. There are a lot of team meetings leading up to the trip and I'll have to get immunization shots before I go as well, but I am SOO excited.

Our main mission will be to support the Mendansa Family at Naomi's Village, an orphanage in Kijabe, Kenya.

We're not exactly sure what that will look like yet, but when we find out I'll let you know. 

I know that the Lord has great plans for us and this trip and I'm so excited to see how He works everything out. I have already seen His hand in providing for me. I'm excited to keep you updated on all the progress. Right now I ask for your prayers for me, my team, our trip, the Mendansa's and Naomi's Village. If you're interested in being a part of my support team please let me know. You can either leave a comment or send me an email - julie.a.cosby@gmail.com. 

love,

jules

Happy 4th!

I love the 4th of July. I think I love it because of fireworks. I didn't get to see fireworks last year on the 4th because we were at the river, but I'm planning on seeing a pretty fabulous show this weekend. I think I'm going to Kaboom Town in Addison. I've heard it's ranked 3rd best fireworks show in the NATION! It better be good! haha

I don't really have any super fabulous plans for the holiday this year because I'm house sitting for the next 10 days or so. I guess you could say I'm having a staycation. I plan on cooking, biking around White Rock Lake, getting a little freelance work done and basically just relaxing.

I guess what I'm trying to say is 

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

and have a great weekend!

love,

jules

Owl Be Seeing You

A few months ago I volunteered to paint an artist's guitar for a silent auction that would be held at the Wildflower! Festival that takes place in Richardson every spring. As with most projects, I began by researching. I decided I wanted to paint an owl on the back of the guitar because it resembled the shape of an owl and I love owls :) My design was heavily influenced by these 4 images.

I found the rooster first and fell in love with the scandinavian influence of the print. When I was researching owls to look at differnt shapes I found this tee and thought it went well with the scandinavian style.

This plate was the inspiration for the owl's eyes.

I absolutely LOVED the colors in this picture and based my color palette on it.

I began sketching out my ideas and came up with this thumbnail.

This is what the guitar looked like before I began.

The next step was to draw recreate my sketch in actual size on paper I applied to the guitar. 

And then I chose which color would go where.

I decided to create a flower-like pattern using shapes similar to the eyes of the owl.

Next I used transfer paper to make sure my lines were as acurate as possible.

And here's the finished product!

Here's my guitar actually at the festival. It's entitled "Owl Be Seeing You"

My guitar on the table with the rest - first in line!

Another one I really liked :)

And last but not least - Me and my guitar. 

It was really hard to give it away. I worked on it all day every day for about a week straight. Lots of planning and hard work went into this thing and I kinda wanted to keep it for myself. I think It went for over $400 $550!! 

Not to bad my friends, Not to bad.

love,

jules

*Click the photos to enlarge

In-N-Out

ok. I've eaten at In-N-Out Burger in California and it's totally NOT worth this. 
WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?!

Ridiculous!! There must be more than 100 cars in that line! And the people standing in line - it rained, I mean it POURED, for most of the afternoon. I wonder if they stayed. haha 


I think I'll wait a few months before I partake in the In-N-Out madness. 


love, 
jules

Simply Beautiful

A few days ago I was introduced to Boxcar Press. I instantly fell in love. Take a look at this video and tell me you haven't fallen in love too. Everything they make and do is beautiful. Here are a few examples from their portfolio - 

I love everything about letterpress. I love the thickness and texture of the paper, I love the indentions made from the printing plate, I love how elegant a simple letter pressed piece can be. I want to learn everything about letterpress. I want to visit Boxcar Press's studio in upstate New York. I may even want to work there. I just can't get enough of them!

Hopefully you have a new love now as well.

love,
jules